Bustle



L. T. RIDGLEY.

USTLB. f '110. 400,115. Patented Mar. 26, 1889.

ffmm,

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

LEONARD. THOMAS RIDGLEY, OF ASHLAND, OHIO.

BUSTLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 400,11-5, dated March 26, 1889.

i Application filed August 25, 1888. Serial No. 283,732. (Model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEONARD THOMAS RIDGLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ashland, in the county of Ashland and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bustles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in bustles; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and definitely pointed out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a cheap and durable bustle, one which will be normally expanded in a manner to form the desired curvature and protuberance and quickly and easily collapsed when occasion demands. I attain this object by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views, and in which* Figure 1 is a side elevation view of my improved bustle expanded, and Fig. 2 is a bottom view showing the expanding-springs.

In the drawings, A represents a spiral spring formed by a single strand of Wire, the coils of which gradually decrease in diameter from the first or forward coil, and finally terminate in a small spiral or curved end, as o., bent and retained in the last coil of the spring, thus forming a closure for the outer end of the spring. This spring is in size sufficient to form a complete bustle when properly expanded. To add rigidity to the forward These springs O are formed of separate pieces of wire located side by side, their inner ends, c, being carried up tangentially and bent outwardly to the loops h of the bar B, at which point they are secured. The opposite or outer arms or ends, c', of the springs C are, in a manner similar to the inner ends, but at right angles thereto, carried out from the coils and extended up to the top of .the end or outer coil of the spring A, at each side thereof, at which point they are secured.

To prevent the springs C from separating, they are bound together by a wire, as c2. A connecting-band or retaining-cord, D, is extended from the top of the forward coil'to the rear coil, it being united with each of the intermediate coils to retain them an equidistance apart when expanded.

To insure a perfect expansion of the bustle, I provide an auxiliary spring, E, located within the coils. It is formed of a single wire fastened to the cross-bar B, the end c, and the top of the end coil of the spring A, between the arms c of the springs C. This spring collapses when the spring A is collapsed. Afurther advantage gained by the use of spring E is that on the occasion of the breaking or bending of the springs C thebustle will still be useful, the spring E alone being sufficient to expand the coils.

It will be'understood that the entire construction above described may be incased in a suitable covering, and also that the waistband is to be attached to the top of the first or inner coil of spring A. Vhen the bustle is collapsed, the ends of the arms on springs C are brought toward each other, the resiliency of the coils being overcome and immediately forcing the coils of spring A apart when the pressure thereon is relieved. By this construction I am enabled to secure a more perfect working bustle than has been the case heretofore in this class, the extended arms of the springs C acting as levers to force both the forward and rear coils immediately out.

I am aware that many minor changesin the construction and arrangement of the parts of my improvement can be made and substituted for those shown and described without in the wound spirally, with its ends abutting and IOO least departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having' thus described niy in vention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In at bustle, the combination, with a single coiled-Wire spring having its `lower side gathered, of a spring coiled on and securing said gathered portion, the ends of said spring being carried out in opposite directions and secured, respectively, to the front and rear coiloi' said sp1ii1g,zt11d zt coiled springwithin sztid spiral spring, substantially :is described.

2. ln n bustle, the combination, with n` single coiled spring having a cross-bar, as B, on its forward coil sind its lower portion gathered, of springs, :Ls C, coiled on said gathered portion, the ends c an d c of said latter springs being extended out in opposite directions an d secured, respectively, to said cross-bnr and the outer coil of the spiral spring', substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I miix ni y signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEONARD THOBIAS RTDGLEY.

llitiiesses:

IB. GRosscUP, E. S. HRD. 

